“Having taken full account of the technical, social, economic and environmental aspects of the scheme and listened to the consultation responses, I’m confident that this significant investment will address the existing problems and compliment improvements across the Deeside area.

“The next steps will be to develop a preliminary design, which considers the environmental and engineering issues in more detail and looks to address some of the issues raised during the consultation.

“I’m hopeful that this can all be completed quickly, with businesses and commuters feeling the benefit of this project at the earliest opportunity, strengthening the social and economic links between Deeside Industrial Estate, Chester and beyond in the process.”

Proposed plans by the Welsh Government for the A55/A494/A548 Deeside Corridor

Mr Skates also announced he would be progressing the delivery of the A494 River Dee Bridge Improvement scheme to investigate options to resolve the existing traffic bottleneck and overcome issues with the existing bridge.

On rail connectivity he said he would be commissioning further work with Network Rail on a new Deeside Parkway and the co-location of Shotton High at Shotton Low at a new integrated station.

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The plans from part of over £650m of Welsh Government infrastructure improvements in North Wales, with Deeside in particular benefiting from unprecedented Welsh Government investment.

He added: “The investment and initiatives I have outlined will go a long way to address the barriers to accessing jobs in the Deeside Hub. They will also form one of the building blocks that will deliver a North East Wales Metro vision of a well-connected and high quality integrated transport system, which maximises active travel opportunities, something which will provide huge benefits for the region.”

The A494 at Aston Hill, between Ewloe and Queensferry

Alyn and Deeside AM Carl Sargeant said he was “delighted” the red route has been chosen.

He said: “The Deeside Corridor is a vital route for businesses. The bottleneck on the A494 has been a problem for a long time and everyone is keen to see work start to get it sorted.

“My constituents will be pleased as so many of them, like me, had worries over the blue route. The blue route would have increased air pollution at points that are already busy. It would have turned minor roads into major routes, and there were concerns about increasing traffic past Ewloe Green Community Primary School.

“I feel the Cabinet Secretary has made the best decision as the red route delivers a full solution to the current problems with the Deeside Corridor. It will divert industrial and weekend/holiday traffic headed for the coast away from Deeside.

“It will also give people travelling to Deeside Industrial Estate from other areas an alternative route.”

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Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami added he felt the impact the blue route would have on his constituents would have been “detrimental”.

He said: “It took a lot of deliberation before coming out in favour of the red route. Mainly because of the impact the red route could potentially have on the environment as I am always a keen supporter of environmentally friendly initiatives, both locally and in Parliament.

“However, having spoken to numerous constituents, whose livelihoods would have been affected by the blue route, I felt it was only appropriate that I supported the route that had the least impact on my constituents.

“Of course this decision will not please everybody as there was always going to be winners and losers whatever route was chosen. It now must be a priority to improve the Deeside Corridor as efficiently as possible whilst taking into consideration all concerns that were highlighted during the consultation process.”